Celiac Disease in Children

The Overlooked Food Allergy

Aug 20, 2007 Alina Bradford

Celiac Disease: What it is, who gets it, and what can be done.

Often overshadowed by high profile food sensitivity issues such as peanuts, celiac disease doesn't get the publicity is deserves to inform parents of this debilitating ailment. About 1child in 300 is diagnosed with celiac disease (An allergy to gluten or bread products) according to the NASPGHAN Celiac Disease Guideline Committee. This disease is becoming more common and is thought to be under-diagnosed by many doctors. Here is what you should know if you suspect your child has celiac disease.

What is It?

"Celiac disease is a food sensitivity to gluten, which is protein found primarily in wheat, rye, and barley," says pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene. A way to judge the risk of having celiac disease is taking a look at your family history, since the disease is genetic. It has also has been found to be more common in children with diabetes.

Gluten is found in most processed foods. So it comes as no surprise that the symptoms of celiac disease become clear three to five months after a child first consumes these foods, typically between the ages of six months and two years, the common age for children to start eating processed foods.

Irritability is one of the most common symptoms in children, though other symptoms can be:

• vomiting
• failure to thrive
• diarrhea
• muscle deterioration
• bloated belly
• tiredness
• irritability

It is also possible for some children to have no symptoms at all or a mixture of the above.

A child who is not diagnosed properly can go on to have osteoporosis, certain cancers, small stature, miscarriages, and other problems as an adult.

What Causes it?

Children who have celiac disease have an immune response to gluten that damages the lining of the small intestine. This flattens the lining of the intestine so it does not absorb and digest food the way it should.

What Can be Done?

A simple blood test can detect if your child has celiac disease. The blood test will show if your child has a IgA deficiency. It may be necessary to follow up with a endoscopy and small bowel biopsy if the blood test is inconclusive.

After a diagnosis, the disease is relatively easy to live with. Your child will have to return to their doctor after six months, then every year after to make sure that the he or she is growing properly.

Celiac disease is a life-long condition. The only way to 100% treat celiac disease is to feed your child a gluten-free diet at all times. Thankfully, gluten is not a dietary nutrient. Your child can still eat fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, milk, eggs, cheese, and breads that are marked as gluten-free. Be sure to stay away from processed foods such as chips, pastries, and crackers.

The copyright of the article Celiac Disease in Children in Early Childhood is owned by Alina Bradford. Permission to republish Celiac Disease in Children in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Celiac Disease can make any child unhappy.

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Comments

Oct 9, 2008 1:50 AM

Guest :

My son is 9 months and I am feeding him stage three foods. According to the article it say that one of the allergic symptoms is diarrhea. My son been having diarrhea but;am not sure if its the new food we tried or is it because he's teething. How will I know

Oct 9, 2008 4:28 PM

Alina Bradford :

I would check with your doctor.

Oct 18, 2008 11:59 PM

Guest :

my daughter is nearly three years old and had proven positive to celiac however we have to wait until she has a biopsy before we commense gluten free diet. As she is difficient in iron and vitamins our doctor has suggested she take supplements for both, I'm just wondering if these will affect biopsy results.

Oct 27, 2008 7:09 AM

Guest :

How late can the disease show up? at 10 years?

Nov 13, 2008 10:36 AM

Guest :

My son is 22 months old and has been having large stools and diarrhea for the past 2 weeks. Could he have Celiac Disease?

Dec 4, 2008 8:16 AM

Guest :

Celiacs is largely a genetic disease, so if no one in your family has it, chances are your baby won't have it, but not impossible I believe. My mother in law did not start having symptoms until late adulthood and subsiquently my daughter has been tested (she had digestive problems very early in life other than celiac) and will continue to get tested periodically throughout her life. If problems persist, contact your pediatrician, and if you are still worried, contact a pediatric gastrointerologist.

Jan 22, 2009 9:09 AM

Guest :

Will the blood test show the IgA response if the child has been following a gluten free diet. Also does a child have to be on gluten for the biopsy to be accurate?

Jan 22, 2009 9:18 AM

Guest :

Parents who are concerned about an infant should try being gluten free for a month since it takes a while for this to completely get out of the childs system. See if the little belly flattens out. Also if stools become more normal or behavior or skin. You can always add it back in and watch for negative effects as well. Removing gluten for a time can be helpful for anyone as this is one of the hardest proteins for the body to digest.

Feb 12, 2009 7:48 AM

Guest :

I work for a private school; we have an incoming student for next fall with celiac disease. The parent is insisting that we get ride out of paints and glue products because they contain gluten. I thought that the problem was ingesting certain foods since it's a malabsorbtion issue. Can you clear this up for me?

Feb 24, 2009 1:29 PM

Guest :

This is more a question than a comment, to anyone who might be able to answer. My grandsons been having stomach and bowels problems since birth, they said that he was lactose intolerant, and had to be put on soy formula, etc..he has suffered from constipation problems off and on since birth as well, recently having gone almost 10 days without a BM, his dr. ran some tests no blood that I know of, but said he could have Ciliacs Disease, and told my daughter to try him on a Glutan Free diet, but I am now a little confused as while reading up on some of the symptoms or signs for this disease constipation isn't in there at all and other than the constipation, the only other symptoms that I can say he showed slight traces of are the bloated belly, buy only while he was really constipated, and irritablity, and that was also when hes been severly constipated. Has anyone had, or may happen to know someone whos child suffered from constipation and has been diagnosed with Ciliacs?I am not a member of this site, so I will call myself Concerned grandma, if anyone needs to or can send me any answers regarding this question, Thank You so much before hand.

Mar 1, 2009 12:19 PM

Guest :

guest;
i have a 3 year old daughter whom i was told a year ago had celiac in her blood but a biopsay proved negitive she still has problems can any one sugest any ideas if this is going to become full blowm celiac

Mar 2, 2009 5:35 AM

Guest :

i suspect my daughter may have celiacs disease. My Dr has told us she needs to have a blood test to confirm, however my daughter is petrified of needles and has refused piont blank (she's six).
Does anyone know of any other way the disease can be confirmed?
In the meantime we are going to put her on a gluten free diet to see if there is any considerable change!

Mar 3, 2009 6:54 PM

Guest :

My daughter is 7 and was diagnosed a few months ago.She had been to the doctors since she was a baby with bowel problems. It took several doctors and 6 years for them to diagnose her. All they needed was a simple blood test. If you suspect your child may be suffering from Celiac ask your doctor to test for it. I had never heard of Celiac Diease. No one in my family has been diagnosed. I really wonder if it is genetic. Now because she is 7 she is really having a hard time with the changes. It is heart breaking!!!! She begs me to have Mcdonalds chicken nuggets just one more time, or stuffing or hot lunch at school. So if anyone suspects your child might have Celiac please talk to your doctor and have your child tested. I believe the earlier the better.

Mar 3, 2009 7:01 PM

Guest :

To concerned Gramma. My daughter had the same symtoms as your grandson. I heard every reason on why she is so constipated. I think we ended up trying every laxative you could think of. This went on for years. A few months ago she was diagnosed with Celiac. The belly pains and constipation has improved a great deal. It won't hurt to have your grandson tested. Constipation is a sign of celiac. Good luck!

Mar 15, 2009 9:35 PM

Guest :

There's a difference between gluten intolerance and celiacs. It can show up at any age. I know people who it's showed up when they're 10, 18, 40, 80, it depends. Sometimes the symptoms can go years and only be noticed when the more serious side effects of certain types of cancers and seizures show up. The symptoms are different for everyone. You don't have to have all of the symptoms. But it is always good to check with a doctor and find out. Yes, certain school products do contain gluten; for someone severely celiac, they can basically be incapacitated when even exposed to a little gluten (fall over with stomach pains). People can also experience no symptoms at all- only 10% of celiacs and people with gluten intolerances experience "classical symptoms". I can handle some gluten. Just not a lot. It's all individual. Good luck.
Read more: "Celiac Disease in Children: The Overlooked Food Allergy" - http://earlychildhood.suite101.com/article.cfm/celiac_disease_in_children#i xzz09t8u1bOv

Mar 18, 2009 4:03 PM

Guest :

To concerned grandma: Not having a bowel movement for 10 days and becoming so bloated is not normal. I am not a Dr. but this reminds me of something I saw in a medical show of a woman who's son had similar symptoms. The dr's thought that he had a blockage but it turned out, after x-rays and such that it wasn't. They took a sample of his lower intestine and found out that he was missing some sort of cells that move the bowel movement out of the body. He would have bowel movements but only after days of it accumulating. I am not sure if this helps and I am sorry I can't remember the name of the disorder or the cells but I remember it very clearly because this poor mother could not get an answer from any pediatrician and her son was always constipated, bloated and very irratable.

Jun 4, 2009 5:02 AM

Guest :

I am concerned about my 4 year old grandson. HE WON'T EAT anything, even his favourite things. Irritability is is middle name these days and mealtimes are horrible. His stools are enormous for a kid that only weighs 35 lbs. I have Celiac and so does a great-aunt. His parents are resistant to any change and I am really concerned. Any advice or relevant websites that I can pass on would be appreciated.

Jul 1, 2009 7:52 AM

Guest :

To Grandparent of the 4 year old. My wife has celiac and recently our son who is almost 3 has begun to show symptoms similar to yours. Now we don't have an official diagnosis but we are preping for bad news. I can't stress enough that you need to somehow get through to his parents to have him tested. You should google "development problems in celiac children" and "behavior problems in celiac children" this should supply a multitude of ammo to present to his parents. Hopefully enough to at least get a blood test done.

Aug 23, 2009 9:11 PM

Guest :

I was 39 before mine showed up....

Nov 6, 2009 8:08 AM

Guest :

A fantastic book to read to answer your questions is "Celiac Disease - A Hidden Epidemic" by Green and Jones. This book says that contipation is often a first signal of Celiac Disease because the villi that are responsible for motility (movement through the intestine) are destroyed and therefore can leave you constipated. In addition, a blood test can be very inaccurate due to the diet. Do not begin a GF diet until you have completed all tests for Celiac. Only ingested foods trigger the autoimmune reaction, not through skin contact. Even those suffering from the skin irritation, dermatitis herpetiformis, do not get this from skin contact but instead from ingesting gluten. This info is all in the book. It explains so much!

Jan 8, 2010 8:40 AM

Guest :

My daughter is 7.5yrs and has been having stomach pains for some time now. The doctor had us try a non-dairy, no citrus food diet and maalox 3 times a day for a week. Her stomach is really gassy and after the week it was still gassy, but not as bad. I took her back again because she still is hurting, he said to try a celiac diet for the next 2 months and see if that helps. After that he will weigh her and see if she is still growing and gaining weight. Hoping this will help, but definitely a hard transition for her. Feel bad for her.

Jan 12, 2010 3:23 PM

Guest :

Is it true that kids with Gluten Allergy get red cheeks after eating something with Gluten?

Jan 13, 2010 5:51 AM

Guest :

My daughter is 12yrs and has been having stomach issues since she was an infant. When she turned 8yrs the pain from her stomach was so severe that she would turn white as a ghost and lay curled up in the floor begging me to make it stop. I 've taken her to every doctor under the sun and they look at me like I am crazy or making this up. Not until this week have they mentioned celiac disease, after I researched it online and told them about it. This article is very informitive and helpful.

Jan 16, 2010 10:11 PM

Guest :

My daughter is 5 and she was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease. As a baby she was very caulicky and had some bowel problems with excessive vomiting (which I was told was reflex.) From ages 2-4 she never had any symptoms except she is very small. Recently she began complaining of belly pain and I noticed bloating in abdomen from time to time, her appetite dwindled..she was always constipated. Her attitude went from happy, good kid..to spoiled whiney..annoying(hate to say that about my kid)..turns out she was positive for Celiac..it took a trip to the emergency room and several trips to the doctor for me to find the answer. Parents you know your children the best, if you think that something is wrong than do not give up. As a parent you should never under estimate your yourself. And in my daughter's case, she is not a diabetic and there is no known relative with this condition so it is possible.

Mar 16, 2010 5:44 AM

Guest :

Many chips, crackers and pastries are fine. Processing has nothing to do with it, unless shared equipment is used (in which case there is a risk of cross contamination).

Mar 16, 2010 1:53 PM

Guest :

The article is fine, I am just shocked at some of the misinformation about Celiac disease. This is an auto immune disease, not just an allergy. You can be gluten intolerant and not have Celiac disease. Please do not self diagnose this. You must be on gluten when you are tested for Celiac either by blood test for antibodies and then with a biopsy by scope of your intestinal lining. My doctor was not helpful so I went off gluten myself and although I have never felt better (for five years), I wish I had persisted until I could have had a definitive diagnosis. And to the person who says many chip, pastries and crackers are fine, unless you are talking about gluten free not they are not. Go to Celiac.com for more info.

26 Comments